Learning Challenge: Time

Time Meme

This was definitely my favorite time meme. It's so funny and true. People are busy, but of course we can't stay working all the time! We need some time off, but usually that time off is spent thinking or talking about how much we have to do. Also, it's more fun to have someone who shares the same problems as you. Time management is a big issue for everyone and especially in college, but it's possible to get it figured out and still have a little bit of time to spare! 

Learning Challenge: Empathy

Empathy Meme 

I chose this as my favorite empathy meme for several reasons. Firstly, I think it's very important during the political things that are going on right now. Also, I think it is just an important thing to live by. It is important to understand what it is like for other people who may not be as well off as you, and also important to remember what it was like for you when you may not have been as well off. Always give back to others. That is what I take from this. Empathy is something we all need to have, but not all of us do. Always put yourself in another person's shoes. 

Learning Challenge: Reading While Watching and Listening

I decided to choose this reading and watching/listening challenge to do because I have some experience with it already that I thought was interesting. I have a friend who always puts subtitles on when he watches TV or movies, and I always thought it was so annoying. I just thought the subtitles got in the way of the show and also distracted me. One interesting thing about subtitles is that they sometimes appear on the screen before the actual words of the character or narrator are said, which can sometimes ruin punchlines or surprises in the show or movie. That being said, after spending a lot of time with him I started to enjoy the subtitles and I started missing them when they weren't there. They made it easier for me to understand what was going on in the show without having to strain to listen, and I found that I could easily listen, read and watch at the same time. Now that I think about it, that is some serious multitasking! I think I'd have to choose watching a movie or TV over reading a book because I feel that watching something is something you can enjoy with another person, while reading is more of a solo task. I do enjoy reading though.

Image from Flickr

Tech Tip: Weather Widget

Hi there! I added a weather widget to the upper right hand corner of my screen. I really like this tech tip because I love knowing what the weather is like and now I have it right here on my blog! Super cool. Here's a link if you want to do this tech tip or if you want to just do it for fun!

Reading Notes Part A: American Indian Fairy Tales

As with the part B reading, I notice here that they give emotions and personifications to seasons. How fun would it be to write a story where summer and winter interact? It gives a meaning behind why there are seasons and why they change. I could take that idea and write a whole new story from it, just taking the idea of seasons having emotions and being real entities. I enjoy this idea a lot.

I could even tie in some ideas from the readings in part B to the readings here. For example, maybe someone curses at summer for being so hot, and then summer goes away leaving only the freezing cold. Now people learn to appreciate summer and the warmth that it brings. I could write a story about how life would be without summer, or winter, any season really.

I also really like the idea of the storyteller here. He basically tells the children different stories that show why something is the way it is. For example, he tells a story called The Boy and Girl in the Clouds where he explains why a certain tall hill exists. Using this idea, I could choose some kind of landmark we know well here in Oklahoma or even in America, and explain with a neat fictional story why it exists or how it got there. That would be very fun and I would have a lot of freedom to write my own story while still taking ideas that I got from these stories.

The Little Boy and Girl in the Clouds

American Indian Fairy Tales by W.T. Larned

Reading Notes Part B: American Indian Fairy Tales

It seems like anytime there is a new reading, I always enjoy the fairy tales the most. Fairy tales of different cultures are so interesting to me and so fun to read. It's nice to see other ways of telling fairy tales and how they are enjoyable for all people no matter what culture.

As soon as I started reading "The Boy Who Snared the Sun" I immediately got a feel of how valued nature is to Native Americans. That is something that I probably wouldn't want to change in my retelling. In fact, as the story begins I can think of a few ways that I could even enhance that moral rather than take it away. I think that would make for a good story.

In the story, the sun shrinks his coat made of birds and he is angry at the sun. The next day the sun doesn't rise and he realizes life is hard without the sun. I could make this into modern day, change the characters but keep the same moral and story. It would be cool to do for Halloween time, with the sun not coming up and people realizing they really need it,

I noticed the other story is also about weather and seasons. It's interesting how important the elements are to Native Americans and how everything has an emotion. It would be fun to write a totally new story in which the seasons have emotions and are almost like real people. There would be a lot of freedom there, because you could give life to anything, even animals. That would be something fun to write.

From How the Summer Came

American Indian Fairy Tales  by W.T. Larned 

Learning Challenge: Attention

When I saw the attention graphic below on the announcement page, it got me curious about other attention graphics or memes. I decided to browse around and see what other ones there were. The one that caught my attention the most was the one that said "the light at the end of the tunnel is not an illusion. The tunnel is." I think this can mean a lot of different things to different people. To me, it means that holding onto something hopeful in a sea of sadness or struggles isn't what you should be doing, but instead paying attention to all the good things that are around you now. I know many of us tend to look past the good things in our life towards some reward at the end. Life will pass you by doing this, and you'll never be happy but always wishing for more. I really enjoyed this post.

Attention Post